Frederick
Wiedman Jr. bequeaths $5 million to RIT

RIT
will receive an estimated $5 million from the estate of the late
Frederick Wiedman Jr. Wiedman, a Rochester native who practiced
law in the city for 50 years, passed away at the age of 76. His
association with RIT began in the early 1960s, when he helped
settle the estate of RIT benefactor Grace Watson. "At that time,
RIT was contemplating building a new campus," recalls Alfred Davis,
RIT vice president emeritus. "The $3 million bequest from Mrs.
Watson became the key to purchasing the land and beginning the
whole process."

Through
Wiedman's involvement as Watson's attorney, he met Mark Ellingson
(then president of RIT ). Wiedman's longtime law partner James
Vazzana says that RIT appealed to Wiedman because "he believed
RIT contributed to the community. He saw many of the students
who go there tend to stay here." Wiedman became a member of RIT's
Nathaniel Rochester Society in 1982, and in 1985 established the
Frederick and Anna B. Wiedman Professorship in Imaging Science
in recognition of his parents. In 1986 he joined RIT's Board of
Trustees.

The
estate provides that the money first be used to fund completely
the existing Wiedman Professorship in the College of Science and
to then establish an additional chair. "The extent of Fred's generosity
is extraordinary," says RIT President Albert Simone. "What he
has done for this university is truly immeasurable."